Straight On Till Morning
by Goldberry
Summary: Fleeing into space with precious cargo, Sakura finds herself aboard the Byakugan, a passenger ship hiding a few secrets of its own. Space AU, SasuSaku, NejiTen.
1. A Very Special Cargo

****_Author's Note: Hello, everyone. I thought we all could use a happy fun-time summer adventure and so, here it is! Basically it's NEJITEN- IN SPACE! A sort of crazy combination of Firefly, Titan AE, Full Metal Panic and maybe even a bit of Peter Pan, who knows? You do not have to have seen/read any of those series to understand this one. In fact, I've taken so many liberties with those series, as well as the Naruto universe, you might not even recognize the references anyway. So sit back and relax and read some crack..uh.. I mean, read this epitome of amazing fanfiction you have before you. Yes. _

_I should also probably note that I am still slowly writing, but mostly on Livejournal now. Look up "shockblanket" on livejournal and you should be able to find me. I would love to see you there.  
_

_Disclaimer: I own nothing, just playing in the sandbox.  
_

**STRAIGHT ON TILL MORNING**  
Part One

The _Byakugan_ was a sound vessel, sleek and silver, it's forward thrusters reminiscent of the wings of a bird of prey. She got a good look at the cargo bay as her things were loaded on and found it small but efficient, a trait that Sakura had a feeling was the trademark of this particular space cruiser. The interior was clean and simple, no frills but she could feel the power of the ship beneath her feet, the quiet rumble of powerful engines. She'd been told in port that the _Byakugan_ had a tendency for long voyages, sailing further in space than most were willing to take passengers. Most importantly, however, the crew didn't ask too many questions. If you could afford the Captain's price, you could fly most anywhere.

"Please be careful with that," she warned, as a man with short, black hair and round eyes unloaded the large, digitally locked trunk she'd brought with her. It was large and heavy enough that it had to be loaded with a lift machine from the dock and she winced as it settled into place with a thump. The man operating the loader gave her a sheepish smile before turning off the machine.

"Not to worry, lovely lady! Your things will be safe and sound here in the bay."

She nodded hesitantly and kept herself from going to check the instrument panel on the side of the shipment. It was better if she didn't draw any more attention to her rather awkwardly large luggage.

"I'm sorry," she said, offering her hand for the other man to shake enthusiastically, "I don't think I caught your name. I'm Sakura."

"Lee," he offered, with a brilliantly white smile. "I'm the ship's mechanic. If it's broken, I can fix it!" He winked at her outrageously and flashed her a thumbs up. "Is this your first time into space?"

Sakura blinked, still blinded by that smile. "What? Oh no. I'm from Haruno, originally. I went to medical school there. I came here for... on holiday."

"And now you're going back?"

"I... Yes, yes, that's where I'm going." She smiled weakly. "Back home."

* * *

Lee gave her a brief tour of the rest of the ship including the kitchen, the passenger bay, a quick look at the empty flight deck, and the engine room. Everything was in order, as she had suspected. Even the engine room, where Lee spent most of his time looked in good shape. It was obvious the ship was well looked after, and Sakura supposed it had to be, if it did regularly fly to the Outer Rim. To be stranded out there in the black was a fate not even worth thinking about.

"What's this room?" she asked, as they turned to head back to the passenger dorm. Next to the engine room was a closed door locked with what looked like a retina scan. It was fairly high-tech for a passenger liner and Sakura felt her curiosity peak a bit.

"Weapons bay," Lee answered quickly, and for once his usually expressive face was blank, as if he were trying hard not to give something away. She frowned, puzzled, but in the next instant he was back with a sunny smile. "That's it for the tour, Sakura. Let's get you back with the others and settled into your rooms!"

The other passengers, whom she'd only glimpsed while boarding, were busy unloading their things in the small bunk-style rooms, talking amongst themselves. Another crew member was among them, a young woman with her hair pulled back into twin buns. She seemed cheerful and spoke with each passenger while collecting payment - everything from fresh fruit and bolts of fabric to actual Alliance credits. When it came to be Sakura's turn, the lady smiled.

"Good evening, Sakura," she said, glancing at the passenger manifest in one hand. Her brows drew together briefly. "I don't have a destination marked down for you. Where are you headed?"

Sakura took a steadying breath. "How far are you going?"

Puzzled brows lifted in surprise and the woman gave her a closer look. It was a moment before she said anything. "We've got a few cargo stops along the Outer Rim, but they're not exactly places you'd want to vacation." Amber eyes regarded Sakura carefully. "Are you in a hurry?"

By which Sakura heard the real question: _Is someone after you?_

"No, at least, I don't think so," she answered. "I just... I'm just looking for some place safe."

The woman nodded slowly, as if she had heard that before from other travelers. "Well then. What can you pay?"

Sakura bent down and picked up the sturdy little wooden box she'd carried in and slid back the rolling top to reveal six neat little vials of clear liquid. "I'm a medic," she explained. "I've brought some medical supplies for passage, and I could see to the crew and passengers should the need arise." She offered the box to the other woman who took it gently.

"High payment indeed," she murmured. Dark eyes lifted back up to Sakura's green. "I'd suggest Whitefall. It's a little out of the way and somewhat backwater but I have a feeling that's what you're looking for." Sakura nodded gratefully. The woman tucked Sakura's box up under her arm and stuck her hand out. "My name is Tenten. Weapons Specialist. Welcome to the _Byakugan_."

* * *

Sakura went to the communal dinner that evening in the kitchen along with the other passengers. It was actually rather nice to sit down to a meal and chat amiably about the harbor town, the travel time, distant planets and strange destinations. The crew members Tenten and Lee ate with them, both of them interesting and easy company. It left Sakura wondering where the Captain was, however, and were Tenten and Lee the only crew members? The _Byakugan_ was not a large ship but surely it took more than three people to fly her.

Her question was answered when she snuck down to the cargo bay after dinner.

She hadn't meant to stay longer, just a quick check of the container to make sure everything was as it should be. There was a lot of responsibility riding on her shoulders and she had no intention of dropping it.

Palming the sensor on the side of the container, the screen flickered and there was a quiet beep as information scrolled: internal temperature, heart rate, blood pressure, coolant level.

The cool barrel of a gun pressed against the back of her neck.

Carefully, Sakura put her hands up, palms out, and looked over her shoulder to find Tenten standing behind her, pointing an old-fashioned hand gun at her, a steely look in her eyes. The weapons specialist said nothing but another voice did.

"What is it?"

Sakura turned around slowly to find another figure standing behind and to the side of Tenten. A man dressed in plain clothes wearing boots and a long leather coat. He had surprisingly long dark hair and pale eyes that seemed to see everything at once.

Captain Neji.

"The crate," he repeated flatly. "What's in it?"

She lifted her chin. "It's personal."

The captain's expression did not change. "Tenten." The weapons specialist motioned with her gun.

"Move aside, Sakura."

Having little choice, Sakura moved aside, allowing Tenten to pass her and kneel down by the container's computerized latch. She felt her breath catch in her throat as the other woman pressed a few buttons on the side. "Please, don't open it. You don't know what you're doing. Please..."

There was a hiss and a rush of icy mist as the top of the container popped open with the sudden release of pressure. Sakura took a quick step forward but found herself held back by Neji whose hand on her arm seemed as strong as iron. In front of them, Tenten straightened as the mist cleared, her gun pointed at the ground as her eyes widened.

"What is it?" Neji asked, as Sakura pulled against his grip. Tenten shook her head.

"Not what."

Inside the container, a naked man, his knees pulled up against his chest in a fetal position to accommodate the size of the medical container, opened red and whirling eyes.

"_Tzao gao_," said Tenten.

* * *

"When I said I was a doctor, I was telling the truth," Sakura told them. They'd gone to the kitchen after Sakura had given their new guest a light sedative to help him adjust to being out of stasis. Tenten had sealed him into their med-bay, leaving him dozing on the examining table.

Now Neji sat at the dinner table, chair pulled out to the side to better watch Sakura who was standing at the head, fingers threaded together, knuckles turning white. Tenten stood at Neji's shoulder, hand gun holstered for the moment, but she stood at attention, ready for anything. Across from them, Lee leaned against the far wall, arms crossed in front of his chest as his listened attentively. Of all of them, Lee seemed to be taking the strange turn of events the best.

_But Lee did not see his eyes_, Tenten thought.

"I studied to be a surgeon on Haruno. After I finished my degree, I was offered a position on Uchiha, a neighboring planet, to be the personal physician to the royal family. It's there that I met Sasuke." Sakura paused. "The man in the med-bay. Uchiha was a small planet, ruled by an ancient blood line. Sasuke was the crown prince and he inherited the power of his family."

"Was?" Tenten questioned quietly. Sakura nodded grimly.

"Uchiha was destroyed. Sasuke's brother, Itachi, killed the entire royal family - even the children - and his ship, the _Tsukiyomi_, seared the land to ash. There was nothing left."

"Except Sasuke." This from Neji, whose gaze revealed nothing of what he was thinking. Tenten shifted at his side.

"Yes," Sakura answered. "For some reason, he left his brother alive. Sometimes I think he did so just to see him go mad with grief. Other days, I think he left Sasuke alive just so someone would know what he had done." She cleared her throat. "I smuggled Sasuke off the planet with the help of a friend. He became filled with the need for revenge. My friend nor I could reason with him. He disappeared for months and when I found him again, he was being held prisoner by a man named Orochimaru."

Tenten blinked in surprise and she felt Neji stiffen in his chair. Across the room, Lee frowned, straightening away from the wall. Sakura sensed the sudden tension in the room and stopped, looking at each of them in turn.

"You know him," she said. It was not a question.

"We know him," Tenten answered slowly. "Orochimaru the Torturer."

Sakura's expression was anguished. "Yes. I was able to infiltrate his compound with help from some old contacts from medical school. I managed to get Sasuke out but he was... something was done to him. I'm not sure what and I didn't have time to find out. I put him in stasis in hopes of flying him as far away from Orochimaru's territory as possible. As far away from _Itachi_ as well. I was hoping...", she laughed sadly, "I was hoping if I got us dropped on some half-forgotten planet, he'd give up his need for revenge."

Lee and Tenten exchanged looks. "Who knows that you have Sasuke now? Does Orochimaru know who you are?" Lee asked.

Sakura started to answer but surprisingly Neji overrode her. "Even if he did not know exactly who she was, she would not have been able to avoid all of his surveillance. It's highly likely he has footage of her and he could use it easily to find and track her." Cool white-gray eyes flickered to Sakura. "So you've put my ship and crew in the way of Orochimaru and mostly likely this Itachi."

"I..." Sakura pressed her lips together briefly. "I know, and I'm sorry for that. Sasuke was to remain asleep until we landed. Your flight manifest said you were visiting small planets, off-worlds. I thought if we kept a low profile, it would be alright."

Neji rose smoothly from his chair. "You're confined to your quarters and the med-bay. Lee, get everything stowed. Tenten, set a course for Whitefall."

Tenten felt her eyebrows rise in surprise but she nodded once. "Yes, Captain."

Sakura was watching them all incredulously. "So... you'll help us?"

Neji paused on the steps leading up to the flight deck. "It's not out of our way. The sooner you're off the ship the safer we'll all be."

* * *

Sakura leaned over the examination table and shown a penlight briefly into Sasuke's eyes, watching the pupils constrict. The irises had turned almost black again - their normal color - and Sasuke was watching her neutrally. The sedative she'd given him was still making him lethargic but not enough to keep from realizing what was happening.

"You kidnapped me."

He said it flatly, without intonation, and she paused. "Saved you, you mean," she replied, frowning. "He was torturing you, Sasuke."

He blinked at the sound of his name and then those eyes of his shifted away from her. "I was there because I chose to be."

Sakura's shoulders fell. She pocketed the penlight. "I don't believe that," she said softly.

He huffed, but there was no strength behind it. She chalked it up to the drugs. "Orochimaru knew things. I stayed to learn what I could from him."

Sakura could feel her face trying to rearrange itself into an expression of horror and she had to breath deeply to get herself under control. "You wanted to learn to... torture?" Her voice was thready, hurt. Sasuke glared at her weakly.

"Don't be stupid, Sakura. Orochimaru has been in deep space. He's seen things, heard things. I learned things from him, but only what I wished to know." He lifted his left shoulder slightly. "Look."

She's seen it earlier in her examination. A strange, comma-shaped black mark on his shoulder near his neck. It looked almost like a tattoo of some kind. She felt nothing when she brushed her fingers over it. "What is it?"

"Power," he said.

But in her head, Sakura heard _revenge_.

* * *

"Captain."

Neji turned slightly, glancing over as Tenten entered the cargo bay. He'd been checking on their cargo - both official and not so official - and mentally calculating how long it would take them to make the drop on Whitefall. That they would be leaving Sasuke and Sakura there as well was a given. He had lost one loved one to Orochimaru, he would not risk losing any one else, and The Torturer would surely want his stolen prize back. He was not the type to give anything up, not without a price.

"What is it?" he asked, noting the pinched look on Tenten's face. She was also wearing more guns than usual - never a good sign.

"One of the passengers sent out a signal to a nearby cruiser. I managed to scramble it before it was fully complete but I have no idea how much got through. " Tenten's expression turned grim. "Neji, the cruiser is the _Akatsuki_. It's Orochimaru. We've got one of his snakes on board."

She had barely finished when another voice rang out, echoing between the metal walls. "How right you are, Miss Tenten."

Both Neji and Tenten pivoted to face the intruder, Tenten drawing the two guns holstered at her hips. The man walking down the cargo bay stairs was one of their passengers, a white-haired young man wearing glasses and a slim smile. He had Sakura in front of him, forcing her down the steps with a gun pointed to her head. The medic was white-faced but holding on to her composure.

"And Hyuuga Neji," the main continued, his voice coiling like a serpent's. "I've heard tales of you. My master speaks of you often. You never closed your eyes, he said."

Neji felt his jaw tighten and it took a push of mental willpower to force away the blood-soaked memories that suddenly flashed before him. Gai shouting, Gai fighting, Gai _dying_...

Tenten simultaneously thumbed the hammers back on her twin pistols, brown eyes glittering with fury. "Stop where you are, snake. Who are you? What do you want?"

Orochimaru's henchman stopped on the lowest landing, a hard grip on Sakura's arm stopping her as well. "As your Captain has no doubt realized, I've come for my master's belongings. He put a lot of time and effort into Uchiha Sasuke. You know how he hates it when his work is wasted." Sakura made a quiet noise but said nothing when Orochimaru's snake pressed his gun against her temple. "My name is Kabuto, and I've already hailed my master's ship. It will be here within minutes, so what are you going to do, Captain? Let me take the girl and Orochimaru's pet apprentice and you and yours can go." He smiled silkily. "I won't even tell him I saw you."

Even as he spoke, the lights flashed red in the cargo bay for a moment and an alarm sounded - proximity alert. The sudden, loud noise startled Tenten and made Kabuto swing his gun around towards her, shady smile slipping from his face.

"No sudden moves," he snapped and Tenten made a low noise of frustration under her breath.

That was when Lee entered from the side of the bay, alerted by the alarm, practically windmilling to a stop and catching the open door frame at the last moment. "Tenten, Captain, what's-"

He didn't even get to finish. Kabuto swung, alarmed by a new presence coming up behind him, and fired. Lee's eyes widened and he crumbled to the floor, his gasp of surprise lost in the sound of Tenten firing a perfect shot into Kabuto's shoulder. The force spun him around and dropped him, the gun clattering from his hand. Sakura immediately picked it up and backed away quickly, moving out of range.

Neji was halfway across the room, dropping by Lee's side. The mechanic's eyes were wide but he was fairly lucid, dark eyes meeting Neji's pale ones.

"Stomach," he said, grimacing. Neji pushed Lee's shirt up to see that he was right - a low stomach wound that would slowly bleed his crew member to death without help. Neji looked up and met Sakura's gaze across the room.

"Help him, " he ordered.

Sakura's eyes were huge and bright with anxiety but she stood her ground. "We have to run."

Tenten, who had handcuffed Kabuto to the stair railing and was still pointing her weapon at him, looked up sharply. "What?"

"Orochimaru's ship," Sakura said, shakingly. "He wants Sasuke. I'll fix him, Lee, I will," a thread of steel entered her voice, "but we have to run."

Tenten cursed. The alarm blared. Lee lay bleeding in his arms, watching him, trusting him. _So much like Gai..._

Another alarm rang and something exploded outside the ship. A warning shot across the bow that shook the _Byakugan_, sent cargo crates rattling under their tie-downs.

Neji let his anger cool, turning to ice water in his veins. His voice came out like frost. "Tenten, ready the ship for hard burn and activate the Kaiten." He lifted his eyes to meet hers and she nodded after a moment before hurrying from the room. Sakura looked after her, her expression confused, before she caught Neji's icy stare. She swallowed and flipped the safety on Kabuto's gun before shoving it into the back of her pants and hurrying to Lee's other side.

"Help me get him up."

* * *

Sakura was pretty sure she was going to die.

Maybe not immediately, certainly not before she removed the bullet from Lee's abdomen, but maybe right after, if Neji's expression was anything to go by. They'd gotten Lee to the med bay, surprising Sasuke who was still locked inside. He moved smoothly out of the way as they hefted Lee up onto the exam table, blood coating Sakura's hands as she hurried for an injection gun and a needle full of anesthesia.

"What's going on?" Sasuke asked, watching as Sakura put the injection gun against Lee's neck and pulled the trigger, his eyes fluttering closed almost immediately.

"Orochimaru," she said quickly, ripping Lee's shirt up the seams and out of her way. "He had a spy on board. Lee was shot."

At Orochimaru's name Sasuke went tight with tension. "Orochimaru? It's his ship approaching?"

"It doesn't matter," Neji said sharply. His pale, angry glare captured both her and Sasuke. "Tenten will take care of the situation."

"What you said to her, about the Kaiten..." Sakura started, but Sasuke interrupted her, eyebrows lifted in incredulous surprise.

"Kaiten? You have a Whispered on board?"

He and Neji exchanged a long, hard look before the captain abruptly moved away from Lee, heading towards the door. "See that he lives, Doctor," Neji commanded as the med bay doors swished open and then started to slide closed behind him, "or I'll hand both of you over to Orochimaru myself."

"What is that? A Whispered?" Sakura asked when he was gone. She nodded to Sasuke's right. "Hand me those forceps."

"Orochimaru used to talk about them. People with innate knowledge of mechanics, physics, mathematics. They are said to be able to create weapons and machines beyond the limits of current technology. He said they could hear _whispers_ - from ships, from weapons. He always wanted one, thought it would make him invincible. If Neji has one..."

Sakura looked over at him solemnly. "I think it's Tenten. She said she was a weapons specialist, but I wondered how the ship could run with so few crew."

Abruptly the alarms that had been ringing went dead, casting them into sudden silence. Sakura and Sasuke stilled briefly as the lights flickered and then came back on, brighter. A hum started, faint but powerful, and the lock on the med bay door clicked into place of its own accord. Tenten's voice, pleasant and almost dreamy, spoke over the ship's com.

"_Passengers secured. Engines at 80% output_." The ship shuddered again as the _Akatsuki_ fired off another warning shot. "_Enemy ship detected within divination. Activating the Kaiten in 3...2...1..._"

The ship's engines suddenly shifted into full power, the whine of it drowning out almost everything else. Sakura half threw herself across Lee as everything in the med bay vibrated with the energy running through the ship. She had no way of knowing what exactly the Kaiten was or what it could do, but she felt the power of it and could hear the screech of metal as it ballooned out to engulf the _Akatsuki_. Tenten's voice sounded again.

"_Initiating full burn_."

This time, Sakura felt only a subtle, sleek shift as the ship launched into a full-speed burn away from the injured _Akatsuki_, flying deeper and deeper into dark space. Sasuke met her eyes from across the room.

"No crew is needed," he told her quietly. "She _is_ the ship."

**TO BE CONTINUED.**


	2. Dark Side of the Moon

****_Author's Notes: I'd better add "Outlaw Star" and "Star Wars" to the list of space series I'm referencing. Thanks for all your kind comments about this story so far, I really appreciate it. As of right now I'm unsure of how many total chapters there will be. I'm going to guess there will be at least two more but I'm just going with the flow for now. :) _

**STRAIGHT ON TILL MORNING**  
Part Two

Neji stood in front of the weapons bay door and let the retina reader scan his eye. Only the _Byakugan_'s crew could access the room as it was too dangerous for someone not familiar with what lay within. Dangerous for the individual as well as for what the room held and protected - the ship's heart.

The retina scan beeped in confirmation and the door swished open, sliding back into the wall as he crossed the threshold. It whisked shut behind him, blotting out the outside world and leaving him alone with the woman laying before him.

She lay in what looked like a transparent blue bubble, elongated to fit her form and balanced on a low, flat pedestal that held it aloft. It was in essence a capsule, a cocoon almost, if a high-tech computer could be called that. The capsule allowed Tenten to connect with all of the ship's systems simultaneously through a physical and mental link that was established once she was inside. Once there, Tenten and the _Byakuga_n melded together, part-human, part-machine - a living, breathing, thinking space ship.

Watching her through the see-through blue blastic of the capsule cover, it looked like she was only sleeping, beautiful and young. He still remembered the first time she had climbed into it, nervous and unsure, and all he could do was watch as she seemed to die and the ship came alive. In truth, he never got used to it. It was dangerous, the melding, and he would not have her do it at all except that sometimes he had no choice. He didn't have a lot of choices, most days.

Reaching out, he laid one hand on the top of the capsule and watched as Tenten's eyes fluttered open and the plastic cover slid back with a metallic hum. He let his hand fall to touch the side of her neck, feeling cool skin beneath his fingers. As always, it took her a few moments to come back to herself, blinking repeatedly as her eyes cleared and the ship became just a machine again.

"We're clear," she murmured, lifting a hand to entwine her fingers with his against her neck. "Lee?"

"He'll live. Sakura extracted the bullet and patched the wound. He's resting now."

Tenten's eyebrows drew together. "What will you do with them?"

He exhaled slowly. "I don't know."

"We can't let Orochimaru have them," she said lowly, urgently. She gripped his hand tightly and he swept his thumb over her knuckles, a soothing gesture.

"You need to rest. Sasuke and Sakura are safe for now." He bent down and slipped his arms underneath her even as she looped hers around his neck, resting her head against his shoulder as he lifted her from the ship's cocoon. She was always weak after melding with the ship, something to do with being so present inside something mechanical. Like fitting a soul into an oven and then trying to pull it out again, she'd once told him. If left too long sometimes it came out burnt.

He carried her down the hallway to their quarters, the other passengers thankfully all in their sleeping rooms. Gently, he laid her down on their bed, watching as she stretched out until she was comfortable before curling slightly into the blankets.

"I thought I heard it," she said suddenly, her voice murky with impending sleep. He stilled, watching her carefully.

"Heard what?"

"Someone whispering. Someone else, far away." She yawned, eyes closing. "Screaming but whispering."

For a moment, he didn't know what to say. There were tales of Whispered who, overcome with all the voices clamoring in their heads, went insane. Driven out of their minds, they piloted ships into suns or black holes, turned guns on themselves, slammed submarines into ocean floors. There were so few Whispered left in the universe that not a lot was known about them. If something was wrong, if Tenten needed help, there was no one to...

Abruptly, Tenten opened one eye to look up at him, an impish smile on her face.

"Some_one_, Neji. As in 'one', a single voice."

He arched an eyebrow at her, keeping his face smooth. "Obviously."

She laughed softly. "Then stop worrying."

He paused, gathering himself. "Another ship?" Her gaze moved off, looking beyond the walls of the _Byakugan_ into deep space.

"Maybe," she answered. "Or another Whispered."

* * *

"You cannot do 300 push ups. I just extracted a bullet from your abdomen!" Sakura huffed, incredulous. Lee seemed to think this over.

"200?"

"No."

"100?"

Sakura's eyebrow twitched. "Not even one. You need to take it easy for a few days. Give yourself time to heal," she answered, patting a new bandage into place over his wound. It was looking good but she was afraid Lee's enthusiasm might tear open his stitches, starting it bleeding again. If Lee died from blood loss now, she was fairly sure Neji would throw her and Sasuke into the airlock, open the bay doors and wave goodbye.

"What happened to the man who shot me?" Lee asked, watching her retape the bandage securely.

"Tenten shot him. The bullet went clean through, easy for me to patch up. He's still handcuffed in the cargo bay. Sasuke is keeping an eye on him. The man is one of Orochimaru's agents, so..."

"Is that wise then? Leaving Sasuke alone in a room with one of the Torturer's snakes?"

Sakura looked up into Lee's open face. "Probably not, but I think the captain is busy doing damage-control with the other passengers and Tenten..."

Lee smiled. "She will be fine."

Sakura paused. "You've known her and and the captain for awhile then?"

"Oh yes," Lee answered, his voice slightly muffled as he tugged his shirt back on over his head. "Well, I have known Neji longer. Both he and I had the same teacher growing up. We both met Tenten about two years ago."

Sakura tilted her head. "How did you meet her?"

Lee's head poked out the top of his shirt and he looked at her solemnly. "She was in Orochimaru's compound when our teacher was captured by him." Sakura exhaled, long and slow, and sat down on the stool she'd moved next to exam table to treat Lee. The mechanic leaned over and patted her hand in sympathy. "Neji went to barter with Orochimaru for Gai's - our teacher's - life, but the price was Neji's own imprisonment. He accepted those terms, not knowing that Gai was already near death. Our teacher never made it off the compound." This time it was Sakura who squeezed Lee's arm in sympathy. "With Neji still captive, I was unsure of what to do. I could not attack the compound without fear of harming Neji and I had nothing left to give Orochimaru in return for Neji's release. Instead, I met Tenten. She spoke to me through the _Byakugan_. Orochimaru had been doing experiments on her, trying to test her abilities. It was she who rescued Neji and, with her help, got the both of them out of the compound safely. She's been traveling with us ever since."

"Sasuke told me that Orochimaru had always wanted a Whispered," she said quietly. "Looks like he had one but lost her." She frowned. "It's strange that Sasuke and Tenten never met while they were being held prisoner by Orochimaru."

Lee looked thoughtful. "I suppose they were kept in different areas. It sounds like Sasuke had more freedom than Tenten or Neji, and a Whispered would have had to be kept somewhere special, somewhere with limited access to machines or computers."

Sakura nodded, then smiled kindly at Lee. "I'm sorry about your teacher, Gai, but I'm glad you have Tenten and Neji."

Lee smiled back, always genuine. "Me too."

* * *

Whitefall was... Well, it was a dusty rock in the middle of nowhere. Tenten frowned at it through the flight deck windows. She'd been down to the surface a few times to drop off supplies to the settlers and the view wasn't much better from below. It was a dry, desolate planet full of tumbleweeds and long guns. Privately, she thought Sasuke and Sakura would go crazy there within the week.

"Put the ship into orbit," Neji said from behind her shoulder. He was standing next to where she was sitting in the pilot's chair, his eyes also fixed on the brown planet.

"Were not going down?" she asked, hitting a few buttons on the computer pad to her right. The plan had been to drop Sasuke and Sakura on the planet's surface, along with enough supplies to see them through a season. Despite its negatives, Whitefall was small and out of the way. No one in their right mind would look for them there.

"I don't want any surprises. We'll wait twenty-four hours. If everything still looks good, we'll descend."

She nodded and shut down the engines as the ship sank into planetary orbit. "What do you want to do about Kabuto?" she asked, keeping her tone light. "He can't stay here but we can't send him down to Whitefall either."

Neji's pale eyes weighed on her. "I think Sasuke will remedy the situation for us." She tilted her head at him, slightly surprised, but said nothing. She knew his hatred for Orochimaru and those that worked for him. She couldn't say she wouldn't do it herself if presented with an opening.

She tapped her finger absently against the console in front of her. "You know, they could stay - Sasuke and Sakura. Staying on the move would probably be the best thing for them, and Sakura is a surgeon. Her skills would be an asset."

"Tenten."

She pushed on stubbornly. "And Sasuke looks like a fighter. We could use his strength, give him something besides revenge to fight for."

Neji's voice was quiet. "You forget the part where he's being hunted by Orochimaru, and possibly his own brother."

"I don't forget," she said quickly, then took a breath to steady herself. "But we've dealt with Orochimaru before. Who better to protect them?"

Neji's eyes turned a flat, pale gray. "I won't lose any more of my crew to that man. Sasuke and Sakura's problems are their own." His gaze flicked up and away, towards the planet currently dominating their vidscreen, effectively ending the discussion. "Do a scan of the planet and prep one of the passenger shuttles for departure." He turned on his heel and left without another word, Tenten watching the straight line of his back as he exited the flight deck.

She exhaled softly. "Aye aye, Captain."

Turning back to the controls, she typed a sequence into the computer and watched the scan commence on one of the side monitors. She huffed under her breath as the results filtered down her screen. Just as she had thought. Dry, dusty and-

She leaned forward slightly, frowning at a tiny blinking line of text. On impulse, she did a heat source scan and felt herself tense at the results. A faint heat source detected on the far side of the planet, hidden in its dark side. It could be just a blip, an afterimage, but it might also be a ship in orbit.

Sitting back in her chair, she looked up and out the large frontal flight deck window and reached. It was like trying to find a light switch in the dark, a blind mental grab in hopes she might find something. For a long moment she felt nothing and she almost withdrew but then-

A faint whisper, but so high-pitched it was almost a scream made her flinch back, clapping her hands over her ears in a vain attempt to block out the razor-like sound. It did no good, of course, as the sound was only in her mind. Instead, she was forced to do an ungraceful mental retreat, back-pedaling away from the shape she sensed in the shadow of Whitefall. Breathing heavily, she collapsed back into the pilot's chair, shakily lowering her hands to stare in shock at the blood on her palms.

Her ears were bleeding.

* * *

"Well, your eardrum is intact," Sakura said, peering through her otoscope into Tenten's ear, "but the skin in the ear canal looks irritated and inflamed. It does seem like the bleeding has stopped, however." She set the instrument down next to Tenten on the exam table and glanced at the Whispered carefully. "You said you heard a loud...whisper?"

Tenten sighed. "I know it sounds strange. I've definitely never heard anything like it before. Whispers can sometimes cause mental pain," she gave Sakura a lopsided smile, "but I've never had one hurt me physically."

"It was a ship then? Something mechanical?"

"I believe so. When I heard it earlier, I thought it might be another Whispered, but now I think it's a ship." Tenten tucked a stray strand of hair behind her ear. "A very unique ship."

"Should I call the captain?" Sakura asked, hesitantly. Lee, who had been leaning against the countertop on the other side of exam table made a negative sound.

"Neji took a shuttle to drop off the last of the passengers on Darkrise," he said, his expressive face reflecting his worry. Darkrise was the sister planet to Whitefall and was close enough to reach by shuttle. "We could contact him but he wouldn't be able to make it back for at least another hour yet."

"It's alright," Tenten reassured them. "I'm not even sure if this ship is a threat. I don't think we should do anything about it just-"

With a strangled cry, the Whispered hunched forward suddenly, both hands covering her ears again as if the pain had returned. Sakura hovered around her anxiously, unsure of what to do.

"Tenten? What's happening? Is it the ship again?"

Tenten's teeth were clenched, pupils dilated. "Stop screaming," she bit out, strained. "I can't understand you."

For a moment, Sakura was struck still and then she realized that Tenten was not speaking to her, but to the strange ship out there in space. She threw a desperate look over to Lee.

"What do we do?"

The _Byakugan_'s mechanic looked grim, eyebrows pinched together anxiously. "I'll go up to the bridge and see if I can monitor the other ship. Stay with her and please make sure she doesn't hurt herself."

Eyes widening, she watched him do an awkward half-run out of the med bay, one hand over the bandages wrapped around his waist. He passed Sasuke on his way out, who looked after him, frowning.

"What's going on?"

"There's a ship out there. It's trying to communicate with Tenten but..." Even as Sakura spoke, a trickle of blood spilled between the fingers Tenten had clamped over her left ear.

Something changed in Sasuke's expression and a moment later he was directly in front of Whispered, black eyes cold and fierce. "What's the name of the ship, Tenten?"

Saskura gaped at him. "Sasuke!" she snapped angrily. He paid no attention to her, his eyes only on Tenten, who half-glared up at him, obviously still under mental pressure from the ship outside.

"It's... I can't understand it. It's just... crying, screaming..." She squeezed her eyes shut, groaning. "Black flames burning, burning..."

Sasuke went very still, so still for a moment Sakura was afraid he had stopped breathing. Then he silently crossed the room to one of the small vidscreens on the wall and flipped it on.

An image of Whitefall resolved from the static and there, emerging from the dark side of the planet, a black ship, glinting in the light of Whitefall's pale sun. Even so far away as it was, Sakura recognized it. She had, after all, seen it raze an entire world once.

"The _Tsukiyomi_," she whispered.

**TO BE CONTINUED**


	3. Out of the Frying Pan

****_Notes: Sorry this is a bit late. I was slightly distracted by True Blood and Teen Wolf and some unfortunate oral surgery. Also, I recently changed the name of my Livejournal so if you are still searching for me there, just do a search for "Goldberry" and "Livejournal" and it should bring me up.  
_

**STRAIGHT ON TILL MORNING**  
Part Three: Out of the Frying Pan

For a moment, all Sakura could do was stare at the image on the vidscreen, watching as the sleek, dark ship sailed out of Whitefall's shadow, headed straight for them. It looked exactly the same, the sharp fins on the side, an engine on each in addition to the large one in the tail. A blood red moon adorned the starboard side underneath the stencil of its name. _Tsukiyomi_.

"Itachi", Sasuke growled, fists clenched at his sides. In another moment, he was out of the medbay and moving towards the flight deck before she could stop him. She watched him go, knowing nothing good would come of it but unable to abandon Tenten who was now flat on her back on the exam table, hands still over her ears, her features twisted in pain.

"You're not on fire, you're not on fire," she mumbled, rocking sideways a bit, sending a few of Sakura's instruments clattering to the floor. Sakura hovered near the other girl's side, unsure if it was safe to touch her not.

"Tenten, tell me what to do. What can I do?" Her hands fluttered helplessly over the Whispered's hunched form. She hated feeling so out of her depth. She had trained in some of the finest medical schools in the universe, why now could she do nothing?

"The... weapons room," Tenten managed, gasping. "You... have to take me..."

Sakura nodded quickly, taking Tenten by the arm and helping her off the table. It was harder than it might have otherwise been. Tenten seemed unable to uncurl her body, shoulders curved in, head down. Sakura could only put an arm around her and lead her on, propelling her out of the medbay and towards the locked room she'd glimpsed on her first tour through the trip. Now she understood why Lee hadn't wanted to talk about that room. It must be where Tenten was able to access the core of the the _Byakugan_.

They made their way towards it at a limping half-run, Sakura holding on to Tenten to try and keep the other girl from collapsing on the floor. When they finally reached the door, she helped Tenten lean against the nearby wall and gently positioned her head for the eye scanner. There was a beep, a light flashed green, and the door slid open.

Inside was a transparent blue pod, similar almost to the medical beds Sakura had used in high-tech surgery. She helped Tenten over to it, mystified as the Whispered climbed in, still cringing from whatever the _Tsukiyomi_ was mentally feeding her.

"I'll... call Neji back," she panted, "Protect the ship, don't... let them board us."

Sakura nodded hurriedly. "I will. I'll do whatever I can."

Tenten managed a strained smile and then laid down, the capsule closing over her head. Once closed, Tenten's expression eased and her body relaxed, stretching out again. Sakura exhaled at the sight. However this room worked, it was clearly what Tenten needed. Perhaps, with the whole of the Byakugan now between her and the _Tsukiyomi_, Tenten could filter out the ship's screeching voice.

Carefully, Sakura backed out of the room, letting the door slide shut again. For a moment, she simply stood in the hallway, breathing, getting herself under control. Suddenly a door down the hallway slid open on its own, revealing stairs up to the flight deck. In the now open door, a phantom shape appeared, faint and translucent. It slowly resolved into an image of Tenten, long dark hair unbound and looking free from the pain she'd been in earlier. She nodded once at Sakura and then very clearly pointed at the open doorway before disappearing again.

Sakura blinked, awed. She stumbled forward, half-falling through the open door and clamoring up the steps. Both Lee and Sasuke were already on the flight deck when she arrived, Lee sitting at the controls while Sasuke stood on the bridge, watching the _Tsukiyomi_ grow larger and larger in the window.

Overhead, Tenten's voice came through the ship's intercom, mystical and remote. _"Approaching warship_ Tsukiyomi, _please state your intentions_."

Instead of answering, the _Tsukiyomi_ fired. Laser fire peppered the _Byakugan_'s nose, sending off an alarm. Without Lee lifting a finger, the _Byakugan_'s engines revved to life.

"_Firing Twin Dragon cannons._"

The ship shook as two large, energy missiles shot from the forward cannons, leaving tails of energy in their wakes that twirled around one another. The energy spheres burst against the _Tsukiyomi_ in a flash of light and fire. Immediately, the _Byakugan_ took off, flanking right, missing the _Tsukiyomi's_ retaliatory laser fire. The black ship soon sped after them, following as Tenten pointed the ship towards Whitefall.

Lee glanced back at her and Sasuke from his seat at the controls. "Get buckled in quickly!" Flames streaked across the large flight deck windows as heat shields activated to protect them. Tenten's voice sounded overhead.

"_Entering planet atmosphere in 10...9..._"

Sakura threw herself into one of two swivel chairs located across from Lee with Sasuke buckling himself into the other. The sound of atmospheric entry roared around them until, with a boom, they pushed through, a burst of speed from the _Byakugan's_ engines sending them streaking across Whitefall's sky.

Sakura clutched the arms of her chair. "The _Tsukiyomi_... is it following?" she asked, anxiously.

Lee punched a few buttons on the computer screen in front of him. "Yes," he said tightly.

As if he were giving her an order, Tenten answered.

"_Initiating evasive maneuvers_."

A sudden drop in Sakura's stomach made her gasp as the _Byakugan_ seemed to plummet towards the planet's dry and dusty surface, the ground coming up to meet them at an alarming rate. The moment it seemed as if they would surely crash, a large canyon opened up in the earth and the ship dipped down into it with perfect timing, weaving around rock formations and underneath stone bridges. At the speed in which they were traveling, only a Whispered could have piloted the ship through such a tight and convoluted space. The _Tsukiyomi_ would not be able to follow them.

"He's tracking us from above," Lee said quickly. His eyes flickered across the monitor. "Tenten..."

The _Byakugan_ banked an almost impossibly hard right and then...

"A cave," Sakura breathed in relief, as darkness enveloped the ship. It was just barely large enough to hold them and the ship slowed and then finally settled on the cave floor, engines powering down.

"It will be hard to read our energy signals beneath all this rock," Lee said, relaxing in his chair a bit. "We should be safe for now."

Sakura unbuckled herself slowly, her eyes on Sasuke. He was unbuckling himself as well, his eyes on the viewing screens like if he just looked hard enough, he'd be able to see his brother's ship out there, somewhere overhead. Carefully, oh so carefully, she reached out to touch his shoulder.

"Sasuke..."

The muscle underneath her fingertips was as hard as rock, he was so tense. He jerked away from her in the next second, turning on his heel and stalking past her, disappearing down the steps. She watched him go, worried, but knowing that nothing she said would be enough. She was never enough.

For several long moments, she simply sat there, watching idly as Lee tinkered with various instruments, focused on keeping them hidden. She couldn't understand why Itachi would be after Sasuke now, after all this time. If he had wanted to kill Sasuke, wouldn't he have done it back on Uchiha? Unless he didn't realize that his brother was onboard the _Byakugan_? But no, she couldn't imagine Itachi making such a careless mistake. The way he had avoided answering when Tenten had hailed the ship... Why keep silent unless he knew absolutely what he was doing?

Lee made a soft sound in his throat and she looked up, drawn out of her thoughts. "What is it?"

The mechanic glanced at her, his expression kind, as if he wished he had better news. She clenched her fingers together. "The cargo bay doors just opened and closed. Audio confirms that a firearm was discharged."

She breathed out. "Orochimaru's spy?"

Lee nodded slowly. "I think Sasuke just dealt with him."

* * *

Deep within a subspace of mechanical equations and electrical wiring, Tenten _flew_. Or perhaps it was not so much flying as it was swimming. She floated through circuit boards and couplings and engine statistics, all of it filtered by the capsule her body lay in, information pouring directly into her mind. With a thought she killed the power to the ship's engine, turned off all non-critical systems so keep their energy signature small. She could feel the _Tsukiyomi_ overhead like a vulture, ready to pick at their bones. The ship's voice was silent now, waiting.

Tenten melted through walls, opened the cargo bays doors for Sasuke as he pushed the spy's body out onto the hard rocky floor of the cave. She moved onto the flight deck, checking on Lee and Sakura before pushing upwards, stretching out to the edges of the ship. She could tell that Neji's shuttle was still half an hour away, she felt it homing beacon on it blip across her senses. She fed the shuttle's computer system their coordinates and updated it on the whereabouts of the _Tsukiyomi_. Neji would not be able to rendezvous with the _Byakugan_ unless he could do it under Itachi's radar. She thought she might be able to do it though, when Neji got-

The virtual landscape around her changed, darkening, and she paused, stilling herself within the walls of the ship. Around her, colors shifted and shapes formed, curves and eddies of-

Flames.

Black, cold flames that ate at the space around her, systematically spreading like a virus. Cold, hard dread filled her and back in her capsule, her heartbeat rose, her breathing quickened.

"I wasn't sure we could meet like this."

She turned smoothly, coalescing into the transparent image of her human shape to face what must be the image of Itachi. He was dressed in black robes adorned with red clouds chased in white while she stood naked, hair loose. A ship did not need clothes, so Itachi was not a Whispered. However he had come to be before her, it was not that way.

When she spoke, her voice echoed. Her mouth did not move. "What are you doing here?"

"There's something I need you to do," he replied, calmly. He made no move towards her, but far away, distant, she felt the lid of her capsule slide open. She couldn't scream, not there in that world, and her body could not wake, she was still connected to the ship. Trapped in two places, her Whispered form stood frozen in place as the Itachi onboard the _Byakugan_ lifted her body from its mechanical bed, while the Itachi before her watched without expression.

"Where are you taking me?" she asked, unable to move in either direction, back towards her body or deeper into the ship.

"It won't take long," he replied, not answering her question. "I don't have long to give."

The Itachi - the real one - onboard the ship disintegrated before her eyes, taking her body with him. As soon as he disappeared, she felt her virtual form start to fade, pulled to wherever it was he had taken her body. How he had managed to teleport from the ship, she didn't know. The illusion of Itachi next to her offered no answers, merely held out a hand, as if she had any choice but to go with him.

Transparent and barely there, she put her hand lightly in his. The two of them winked out, candles extinguished in the dark.

* * *

The moment Neji entered Whitefall's atmosphere, he knew something was wrong. The _Tsukiyomi_ was nowhere to be seen, but the _Byakugan_ was exactly where the shuttle computer said it would be, hidden down inside a cave on a canyon wall. He stayed as low as he could under the radar but was surprised when it was Lee's voice he heard over the com, initiating the docking sequence. By the time the air lock stabilized and he stepped out of the shuttle into the cargo bay, Neji felt tense, like his skin was too tight. Lee greeted him.

"Neji." The look the mechanic gave him was grim. "Something's happened."

"The _Tsukiyomi_?" He hadn't seen the ship on his approach but that did not mean they were in the clear.

Lee gave him a sober look. "It's Tenten. She's missing."

Neji stilled. "What do you mean?"

"She's not on the ship. We've looked everywhere and the scan came up negative three times." Lee's dark eyes were wide.

"She's not here, Captain. She's not anywhere."

**TO BE CONTINUED.**


	4. Into the Fire

_Notes: So sorry it has been so long for an update. My muse is a fickle, fickle thing. _

**STRAIGHT ON TILL MORNING**

The _Tsukiyomi_ was a ghost ship.

She'd felt it the moment she woken up in the strange computerized bed onboard the vessel, cobwebs brushing against her arms as she struggled in a blind panic to free herself from it. Tumbling over the side of the cocoon-like bed, she fell to the cold, dusty floor, looking around at a room that hadn't been used in years, perhaps had never been used. It was a Whisper Room, like the one on the _Byakugan_, but it was cramped, the clear plastic encasing much smaller than the one Tenten was used to. It looked older too, out of date.

Pushing herself to her feet, she staggered over to the automatic door, feeling a swell of relief when it opened for her without complications. The corridor outside, however, was completely dark. Only emergency lighting on the floor provided any illumination so she kept one hand on the wall as she moved away from the Whisper Room, listening for the sound of a crew.

There was none.

Only a deep sense of time, of neglect, the halls dark and musty. Even the ship's voice was silent. How could the vessel have fired on them without a crew? Was it only Itachi on board? It might explain the decay, if there was only one active crew member.

Fumbling along in the semi-darkness, she finally made her way to a set of large windows where she paused, halted momentarily by the vast beauty of space that looked back at her. Twinkling stars and the multi-colored curls of galaxies decorated the view and she exhaled, her eyes drawn to a speck of light that seemed to be moving towards them at a steady pace.

"Orochimaru."

She startled, one hand moving to her throat as she turned to look at Itachi. He was standing next to her, watching the speeding star move across space. Looking at him, he _seemed_ real and looked solid, but there was just a feeling of... impermanence, as if time was slowly ticking down on some invisible clock.

"He's coming for your brother," she said quietly. "And perhaps me as well. Is that why you brought me here?"

Itachi finally turned to look at her, his eyes as black as the space that was reflected in them. "This ship is a tool of utmost destruction. It was designed by a Whispered and, when piloted by one, it is unstoppable."

Tenten's eyebrows rose in surprise. She has guessed the ship had had a Whispered pilot by the presence of the interface room, but built by one as well? The Whispered were a rare race and their machines were even more rare. To have built such a large space ship spoke of immeasurable power.

"So that's why it's voice is so strong," she said softly, thinking aloud. She caught and held Itachi's look. "Who was the Whispered?"

"His name was Shisui. We grew up together."

Tenten read between the lines and her expression hardened. "He gave you this ship and you used it to destroy your own planet, killing your entire family."

Itachi's expression didn't so much as flicker. "All but one." He turned back to the window, watching the bright spark of Orochimaru's ship as it grew closer.

"Why?" she asked, an almost pleading note bleeding into her voice before she could stop it. "Such a gift as this ship... Why use it to kill? And your own family? I cannot believe, as a Whispered, that your friend would have wished for such a thing." It was true that most Whispered were employed by the military, to create machines and weapons to be used in warfare, but she had never heard of a Whispered knowingly creating an entire ship to be used to wipe out a whole planet. Such a great sin could never be erased. Had Shisui known what Itachi would do with his gift?

"My family was very traditional. As royalty, we were expected to be the strongest of our people, the most powerful, the most ruthless. As a child, Sasuke was not this way. He was earnest, always struggling for our father's favor." Itachi paused. "Innocent. The elders decreed that Sasuke would grow up to be weak and spoiled and that he had to be sacrificed for good of the clan. It was not uncommon for the blood of younger sons to be offered up to the gods in payment to keep the clan strong. My father was troubled but I knew, in the end, he would heed the clans wishes."

"So you murdered them first." Tenten murmured, unsure if she was horrified at the Uchiha elders or Itachi's actions.

"The elders were useless." Itachi's voice dripped with condescension. "And my father was weak. He could not see past the ancient laws. I told him that I would oppose him should he try to take Sasuke's life." Dark eyes found hers. "He did not listen."

"Sasuke thinks you murdered them all without cause, that you are a traitor," she told him, watching his face.

He looked at her steadily. "I am. In my efforts to thwart the elders, I killed many who were innocent. At the time I did not fully understand the capabilities of a Whispered-made ship." His hand reached out to touch one of the curved, cool walls. "I do now."

"If you've been protecting your brother all this time, why did you fire on us?"

"I wanted to get your attention and I needed to learn the extent of your abilities. Battle is the only place you can truly know someone."

She huffed and turned her head to watch the _Akatsuki_ as it grew ever closer. It was still just a pinpoint of light but soon she would be able to make out the shape of it, the terribly familiar black and red cloud sigil near it's nose.

"What is it you brought me here to do, Itachi?" she asked, feeling tired. She has a feeling she already knew what it was.

He turned slightly to look down at her, impassive and completely transparent.

"I want you to destroy Orochimaru."

She licked her suddenly dry lips. "With this ship."

"With this ship," he confirmed.

"To save your brother?"

"To save you all."

Her eyes widened and she studied her companion more closely. He looked back at her openly and, for the first time, she understood what it was she had been feeling.

"You're dying," she blurted out, surprised, but a moment later she shook her head and took a step back, the blood draining from her face. "No, that's not right, you're-"  
"Dead," he supplied, unruffled.

"How..How are you...?" she croaked, motioning at the vision of him in front of her.

"As I have said," he repeated quietly, his voice echoing in the empty hallway, "this ship is very, very special."

* * *

Neji was not pacing. He was not shouting or cursing or doing anything reckless, he was merely standing on the bridge, looking out the bay windows, pale eyes unreadable, focused. Sakura didn't think he'd moved at all in the last ten minutes and, frankly, it was starting to creep Sakura out. She wasn't sure just what she had been expecting, but she thought Tenten's disappearance would elicit some sort of response. But it was as if Neji had turned to stone, cold and distant, and that was almost more terrifying as she couldn't anticipate what he might do.

Even Lee seemed tense in Neji's presence, rubbing at the bandages around his waist in agitation. He was seated in the pilot's chair, running scans with Sakura standing at his shoulder, watching to make sure he didn't reopen his wound with all his itching and rubbing.

"The _Tsukiyomi_ is still in orbit," Lee announced. "She's powered down and not responded to hails." He'd been searching for the ship ever since Tenten had been found missing.

"We don't think she's there," she glanced at Lee, "do we? I mean, why would she go there?"

"She might have been lured there," Lee answered, but he sounded doubtful. "When she's interfaced with the ship, Tenten's mind can be vulnerable by someone who understands a Whispered's abilities. Perhaps-"

"She did not go anywhere," Neji spoke suddenly, startling them both. "She was taken." He turned slightly, eyeing the two of them with steel in his gaze. "Her physical body is gone, therefore, someone or something physically removed her from the ship."

"But nothing shows on the scans," Lee said, a note of worry in his voice. He played back the recording they had pulled from the camera in the weapons room. One moment Tenten lay in her pod, the next she was just gone, almost as if a section had just been deleted, but Lee had verified that the recording had not been tampered with.

"I don't see how it could have been Itachi," Sakura murmured. "He shouldn't even know Tenten exists let alone that she is a Whispered. They hadn't encountered each other before today."

One of Lee's monitors beeped and a warning symbol flashed onto the screen. The mechanic leaned forward and tapped a few keys to bring up a different scan. His eyes grew wide in his round face. "Neji, the _Akatsuki_ is approaching. It will be within range of the _Tsukiyomi_ in fifteen minutes."

"Orochimaru?!" Sakura exclaimed, feeling herself go pale. How had he tracked them this far? Had his spy, Kabuto, managed to get out another message before Sasuke killed him?

If Neji had been cold before, hearing Orochimaru's name turned him to ice. "Lee, launch the ship. Get us into orbit near the _Tsukiyomi_. If either Itachi or Orochimaru has her..." he trailed off, his eyes flashing white silver.

I will destroy them."

* * *

Tenten laid herself down in the _Tsukiyomi_'s dusty cocoon-bed once again, watching with trepidation as the cover slid up and over, sealing her inside. Now that she knew what the Tsukiyomi was, she was hesitant to link with it. She had never before piloted anything made entirely by a Whispered. She, herself, had only ever made guns, personal weapons for individuals, never something this large and complicated. When a Whispered created something, they linked with it, _listened_ to it and fashioned it according to what they heard. You could almost say the things the Whispered created actually created themselves. If Shisui had indeed built the _Tsukiyomi_ himself, then it was very possible some part of him yet lingered within it, an impression of his mind imprinted in the ship's system. It frightened her, a little, to face him, another Whispered, when she was at her most vulnerable - interfaced with a foreign ship.

Still, she didn't have much of a choice. Orochimaru would soon arrive and, though she did not trust Itachi, she too wanted to be free of the snake's grasp, just as Itachi wanted his brother to be free. She would not allow Orochimaru to hurt anyone else, if she could help it.

Taking a breath, she closed her eyes and tried to relax, reaching out to the neglected ship gently. It opened to her mind slowly, revealing itself layer by layer and with each passing second Tenten could feel the power of it, dormant and sleeping now but wakening. One by one she coaxed each of the ship's systems to life, listening as it Whispered to her of cold, blank space and black fire. She soothed it, smoothing over the rough edges, working out the kinks. She was working with haste though as she knew Orochimaru was getting closer and she wished she had more time to learn and study the things she was seeing. Never before had she seen a ship like this. The _Byakugan_ was a beautiful, strong ship but it had not been made for or by a Whispered. She and Lee had had to modify its weapons room to accommodate the interface capsule and Tenten had wired the link to the ship herself. The _Tsukiyomi _was different. Every line, every wire, every memory chip had been built by a Whispered. Tenten could easily get lost in this ship, it was so easy to move within. She could lose herself and would never even realize it to regret it.

Something drew her attention to the left and she floated to the bridge, flicking on the lights as computer screens flipped on and systems whirred with power. A proximity alert flashed before her and she felt an immense relief well up inside her at the familiar silver ship on the monitor. She could feel it now, coming closer and the _Tsukiyomi_ flared to life in response to her joy.

For the first time in long, dark years, the _Tsukiyomi_ sang.

"Neji," she whispered, and then she _Whispered_, reaching out in the space between them to the ship, and the man, she called home.

* * *

"Sasuke, wait, what are you doing?!" Sakura asked, trying to keep up with him as Sasuke barreled towards one the _Byakugan_'s real weapon bays, a thin corridor on either side of the ship that allowed manual access to the ship's two photon cannons mounted on the wings. The moment Sasuke had learned that they were closing in on the _Tsukiyomi_ he had taken off, his aura focused and intent. Even then, Sakura had not been too worried but then she had noticed it. The tattoo, the black scar on Sasuke's shoulder had grown. More squiggly comma-shaped marks had appeared, crawling over his shoulder and halfway up his neck. What's worse is that Sasuke didn't even seem to notice, all his attention fixed on Itachi and the ship coming into range. Even mention of Orochimaru had not been able to slow him.

"I have to stop him," he said darkly, and he was not so much speaking to her as to himself. "He can't be allowed to continue. It's time for it be over."

The starboard side weapons bay door whooshed open for them and Sakura hurriedly followed him inside, a sinking feeling in her gut. "Sasuke, please, wait, we don't know what's happening out there. Tenten's missing and Orochimaru's ship is closing in as well. We should go up to the bridge and-"

"Go up if you want to, Sakura," Sasuke snarled, "but I am an avenger. My brother will not leave this battlefield."

Sakura snapped at him. "You are not the captain here, Sasuke. This is not your ship. These people have been kind to us, it's not the place for-"

He was behind her so fast she never saw him move. A breath of cool air ruffled the ends of her hair and she felt him hit several points of her nervous system in rapid succession. She tried to call his name but she could not get her voice to work, even as her legs buckled underneath her and she felt his arms catch her and lower her with surprising gentleness to the floor.

"Sorry, Sakura, but I can't let you stop me."

And then she felt him tuck a stray lock of hair behind her ear and her world went black.

* * *

The _Tsukiyomi_ was a beacon. The moment the _Byakugan_ had come within range, it had burst into life across every sensor, all systems go. It shone on the monitors, it's energy levels ridiculously high and the moment he saw it, Neji knew.

"Tenten," he said quietly.

Lee made a sound of surprise. "She's there?"

Neji nodded. He had seen something come to life like that before, an entire wing of Orochimaru's compound, every machine buzzing, every computer beeping, anything close enough to Tenten to feel her influence suddenly powering on. It had been on the day he'd broken into the specially built prison Orochimaru had been holding her in, finally able to see, for the first time, the owner of the voice that had saved him from going mad in his own prison.

"She's there," he said, absolutely certain. A smile broke across Lee's face just as his monitor beeped, flashing something across the screen. "She's sending docking coordinates. She's lowering the shields if we want to dock before the _Akatsuki_ arrives."

Neji paused for a moment. "She means to fight?"

Lee sobered, meeting Neji's gaze. "It seems so, and with the _Tsukiyomi_. Somehow." Lee shook his head, puzzled, but then his face cleared a bit as something else flashed across his screen. "She asks if the captain would like to come aboard?"

Neji felt himself relax. He wasn't sure what Tenten's plan was, but he trusted her. If she was going to stand against Orochimaru, he would as well. He knew she would explain just how she had gotten control of Itachi's ship when she could.

"Alright. Tell her-"

There was no warning. The overhead active fire alarm rang and the ship rocked as a cannon on the starboard side suddenly started firing in rapid succession, pure white photon charges speeding across the intervening space towards the _Tsukiyomi_. They exploded against the side of the other ship in a way that would not have been possible had its shields been up. Neji's heart clenched in his chest and for a moment, just a brief moment, he almost thought he could hear Tenten screaming.

"Lee, lock down both of the weapon bays. Cut the power to the canons," he ordered, and Lee scrambled to obey. "Try to hail her again." He turned and headed for the steps leading down off the flight deck, his face a cold hard mask of wrath.

I've got something to sort out."

**TO BE CONTINUED.**


	5. A Walk In Space

****_Notes: My muse is eating me alive. Here, have another chapter.  
_

**STRAIGHT ON TILL MORNING**

For a long moment she didn't know where she was. Her left arm felt like it was on fire and the ringing in her head would not quiet down so she could think clearly. She was having a hard time breathing as well, as if there wasn't enough air to... Air. Her eyes widened and with a thought she sealed off the C Block, stopping the vacuum of air as it was drawn out into space by the damage to the hull of the ship. The throbbing in her left arm lessened somewhat once the seal was in place and she took a deep breath, trying to get her bearings.

The _Byakugan_had fired on her.

She couldn't understand why. Her thoughts were still a bit fuzzy but she knew she had hailed the ship, had transmitted her whereabouts. Neji _had_ to have known she was on board, why would he...? A flash of worry lanced through her. Unless something had happened and Neji was no longer in control of the _Byakugan_.

She paused, unsure of what to do.

A three note tone suddenly sounded in her ear and she winced. It repeated after a few moments and she silenced it with a thought, too off balance and hurting to understand who was hailing her. She needed to regroup, needed to pull her thoughts together. There was something she was supposed to be watching for, something was coming...

A chime sounded in her ear and she felt the docking bay doors opening, allowing someone in through the airlock. There was a brief second where she thought it might be Neji but then she realized, no, the _Byakugan_ was still in orbit and she felt her heart sink. She had dropped the shields and prepared the ship for docking, but it was the _Akatsuki_that was now attached to her, like a parasite.

"Orochimaru."

His name sounded in her mind, in the ship's mind, and the _Tsukiyomi_reacted to her fear. Mechanical doors slammed shut and locked, lights flipped off, alarm systems were primed, and through it all, Orochimaru stood in her cargo bay and laughed.

"I was unsure before but now I'm certain. You're here, aren't you, my pet?"

His voice was oil, a snake's hiss. Her physical body shivered in it's computerized cocoon. She could not let him find her. He would take her back, back to his compound, to the room where she could hear no Whispers but her own, where she would create twisted and dark things, cruel weapons, just to have something to _talk_to. Neji had destroyed those creations when they had broken out of Orochimaru's compound before, but he would not be there to help her this time. If she was captured alone there was no telling what horrible machines she might give birth to in her madness.

She would kill herself before she let that happen.

* * *

Neji walked quickly but steadily towards the starboard weapons bay, his hold on his anger tenuous at best. It could only have been Sasuke or Sakura who had fired on the _Tsukiyomi_ and, of the two, he could guess which of them was more likely. Sasuke had taken the opportunity to try and bring down his brother's ship and, though Neji could not fault him for wanting revenge for his murdered family, the _Byakugan_did not belong to Sasuke. He would not see it used as a tool in a grudge match that neither Neji nor his crew had anything to do with. What was worse is that Neji was certain Sasuke would still be firing if Lee hadn't cut the power to the cannons, which unfortunately also left them practically defenseless with Orochimaru growing closer every minute.

Just before reaching the weapons bay he made a detour into his cabin, kneeling down to pull out a long, thin box from under his bed. He had hidden it there years ago, out of sight of any cameras and away from where even Tenten would look. The box was lead-lined and he had been very careful to not to open it. He had thought _never_to open it, really. He had taken it on a whim in his escape from Orochimaru's compound all those years ago. Perhaps he should have destroyed it with the others but, at the time, he had not been sure they would actually survive Orochimaru's pursuit of them. He had thought that if they were going to die, he was going to take the Torturer with him. With Orochimaru closing in, it seemed the time had come at last to use it.

Pulling back the lid of the box, he gazed down at what looked like a sword, curved slightly and sharp on only one side. The blade was about four feet long and black, like the deepest most part of space. Even now he could not have said what it was made of. The grip was black as well and looked like glass, smooth and shiny. It looked to be an elegant weapon, simple and unadorned, but he knew it was much more than that.

Reaching down, he wrapped his hand around the hilt and drew it forth.

As soon as he touched it, symbols lit up along the length of the blade, engraved in glowing white fire. There was a slight vibration under his palm, a hum of power as the sword came awake and he raised the blade horizontally, reading the runes.

_I am the voice in the darkness. _

A long time ago, lying near death in Orochimaru's prison, he'd heard a voice singing in the black. There had been no light in his cell, indeed there had been nothing at all except suddenly that voice. It had been untrained but sweet, singing only a simple lullaby, but as he lay there listening, he understood. He could not die there. He could not allow Gai's murderer to kill him as well. He had to live, he had to escape, there was still a world out there beyond the cold confines of his cell. There was still beauty, still _goodness_, still people he cared about. It had been so long since he had heard anything but screaming and the snake's laughter. If someone could still sing, there in that terrible place, there was still hope.

Neji gripped Nightsong firmly. Tenten had made the sword during her years of torment and slavery under Orochimaru. The Torturer had twisted Tenten's gift by locking her away, unable to speak, to _Whisper_, until she had no choice but to create her own companions or go mad with the silence in her head. Months after their escape, she had told him that she had sometimes heard Neji speaking during one of Orochimaru's torture sessions, when they moved him to a chamber closer to Tenten's. She could not always understand what Neji said, but his voice had been _her_anchor, her reminder that she was not completely alone there.

Looking back, he could not be sure what she'd been thinking when she's created the sword in his hand, but he liked to think it had been meant for him.

Rising to his feet, he turned and headed down the corridor, barely pausing as he took off the comm clipped to his belt and activated it to talk to Lee on the bridge.

"Lee, open the starboard weapons bay door."

It slid open effortlessly and he moved inside, Nightsong humming in his hand.

* * *

Sakura came to all at once. One moment asleep and then the next wide awake. She was still lying on the floor of the weapons bay, her skin cold where it touched the floor. She felt somewhat sore and she mentally cursed Sasuke for hijacking her like that. The thought of him brought a welling of panic inside her. What had he done while she was out?! Twisting slightly, she tilted her head back to look over at the cannon controls when the bay doors slid open with a mechanical hiss and Neji walked in.

He looked like wrath itself and there was a blade in his hand. His pale eyes flickered over her crumbled form before sliding over to where Sasuke stood ready near the cannon. His full body was turned towards Neji and he stood braced as if for impact, dark eyes still angry.

"Why did you stop me?" he growled at the captain. "Itachi is within range. We should be firing."

Neji's voice was as hard as metal. "The _Byakugan_ does not answer to you." His gaze flicked over to Saskura again and she pushed herself up slowly, trying to sit up on her knees. "In any case, your brother is not in control of the _Tsukiyomi_, Tenten is. You fired on _Tenten_."

Sakura gasped, keeping herself upright with one hand against the floor. "Is she alright?"

Neji's jaw tightened. "I don't know." His cold eyes turned back to Sasuke. "You've broken the rules of my ship and you attacked one of my crew. By rights, I should kill you."

Sasuke tensed and shifted onto the balls of his feet. He did not attack though and instead watched Neji warily. The captain stared back at him and Sakura realized suddenly that it was her presence that was keeping Neji from attacking Sasuke with the strange ink-dark sword in his hand. The captain had not expected to find her there.

"We'll go with you," she blurted, and both men turned their heads to look at her. "To the _Tsukiyomi_," she clarified. Sasuke stilled but Neji lifted his chin, signalling her to continue. She swallowed. "If Tenten is hurt then I can be of help. Sasuke can handle Itachi, whatever has happened to him, and then we can take the _Tsukiyomi_and be out of your way." She took a breath, holding Neji's gaze. "Please. Without bloodshed. Please."

Neji glanced back at Sasuke who, after a moment, finally relaxed from his battle posture and nodded stiffly. Sakura smothered a sigh of relief.

Suddenly, there was a burst of static from what looked like a comlink on Neji's belt. Lee's voice crackled over it. "Captain?"

Neji reached down and unclipped the device. "What is it, Lee?"

"Captain, the _Akatsuki_ has docked with the _Tsukiyomi_." Lee sounded anxious. "I couldn't do anything without hurting the _Tsukiyomi_as well. I'm sorry, Neji."

Neji's grip on the sword in his other hand tightened. "Orochimaru will know she is there. He'll want to take her back."

Back, back to his compound, the one Sakura had had Sasuke smuggled out of. She remembered the place, and not fondly.

Lee's voice crackled over the line. "She won't let him get far. She can barricade herself inside the ship until we get there."

"Not if she's injured," Neji answered quietly, but he did not press the button to communicate that to Lee. The captain looked over at Sasuke who met his gaze steadily, without fear. Neji lifted the com and spoke to Lee. "Lee, prep the suits," he ordered. "We're going for a walk."

* * *

Sakura had never space-walked before and she was pretty sure she never wanted to do so again. The feeling of nothing at all around her, nothing _below_ her was so unsettling that the only thing keeping her from flying into a total panic was the fact that Neji had connected them all together by way of a long tie-line clipped to their suits. No matter what, none of them could drift off, and Sakura hung on to that fact as she floated slowly, ever so slowly across empty space to the _Tsukiyomi_.

With the _Byakugan_ blocked from docking by the _Akatsuki_, the only way to reach the Tsukiyomi was to "walk" there and, from what she understood, basically use a special blow torch to penetrate the airlock from the outside and hope Tenten would open the doors for them once they were in.

Neji had the tools they needed slung over his back and he was in the lead, using the small thrusters on his suit to maneuver the line of them over to the _Tsukiyomi_. She and Sasuke were pulled by his momentum while Lee stayed behind to monitor the situation from the bridge. Right about now, Sakura wished she'd asked to stay behind as well even though she knew that logically she could not. If Tenten really was injured, then she would need a doctor.

Neji had reached the _Tsukiyomi_'s outer hull and he grabbed on to a long steel bar near the airlock used for maintenance when the the ship was docked planet-side. He clipped a metal tie around the bar to anchor himself and then took the blow torch off his shoulder and started burning a neat door-sized square in the side of the airlock. A moment later, Sasuke reached the bar as well and grabbed on and then turned awkwardly in his bulky suit to look back at her. Whatever he saw on her face made him lift a hand back towards her.

"Sakura." His voice came through loud and clear over the headset installed in her suit. Her heart tightened in her chest and she raised her arm, letting him pull her the last few feet. She knew, in his own way, that he was apologizing for what had occurred in the weapons room. It may not have been said aloud but that was Sasuke's way. That he was trying at _all_was something.

A panel from the ship's hull abruptly sailed by them and the two of them turned to find Neji motioning at them. Together, the three of them made their way into the airlock, Neji floating over to the door and pressing the release.

Nothing happened.

"Tenten," he said quietly, knowing that she had to know they were there if she was still interfaced with the ship. Neji had told them that cutting into the ship like that was like cutting into Tenten. He hadn't wanted to do it but there hadn't been any other choice. "Open the airlock."

Sakura felt herself tense as they waited. Were they too late? Had Orochimaru already reached her? But then a light flashed from red to green near the door and it slid back with a hiss. Neji pulled them inside quickly, drawing a blaster from his belt as they floated into the airlock. The room was thankfully empty, however, and the airlock door snapped shut behind them. Oxygen immediately rushed into the room as the pressure stabilized. Once Neji gave them the all-clear, they fumbled out of their suits and drew the guns Neji had supplied them with. They were matching weapons, two laser guns, silver in color, with glowing blue lines etched into them in intricate patterns. The lines seemed to pulse at times, as if they were echoing her heartbeat. They had been Whisper-made by Tenten recently.

Neji had put away the blaster and the black sword was now in his hand as he looked at each of them in turn. "We go together to the interface room. Orochimaru will be headed there if he's not there already. After that, if you want to pursue Itachi, I will not stop you." The last was directed at Sasuke who nodded once and she felt her eyebrows lift in surprise. She had thought that as soon as they were aboard he would be off to find Itachi, but perhaps he thought his brother was in the interface room as well. "Orochimaru will have left men to secure the hallways, he won't have come alone," Neji continued. "Be on your guard."

He lifted his blade slightly in a ready position, nodded at the two of them and palmed open the doors leading into the interior of the ship. Gunfire sounded almost immediately and they began the long fight to retake the heart of the _Tsukiyomi_.

* * *

Tenten had shut and locked every door between herself and Orochimaru but it had barely stopped him. He'd planted charges on the doors and had simply blasted his way through them, leaving a man behind every now and then to hold the passageways. Once she thought she'd had him. She had purposefully opened the door to the kitchen area and the moment he'd cautiously stepped inside, she'd slammed the door closed and reversed the oxygen flow out of the room. Instead of suffocating, however, he'd simply pulled out a small, portable oxygen mask and set the charge for the next door, chuckling as if he found her antics amusing. He knew what he was doing to her, the more explosives he used the more damage the ship took and, in turn, the more damage _she_ took. Nothing would show on her physical body, but with her mind interfaced with the ship, it _felt_like she'd been shot in the chest every time a charge exploded. Neji hacking his way into the airlock had barely registered next to that and she had had to turn her attention away from him as Orochimaru got closer and closer. He was only moments away now and she knew she could not stay in her capsule. He would simply haul the whole thing out of the ship with her still inside.

Taking a breath she faded back into her body and opened her eyes inside the cocoon-bed, staying still as the cover slid over and off. As always, she felt weak upon disconnecting from the ship. Sitting up was a monumental task and immediately she knew. She could not walk.

Tears burning in the back of her eyes, she fumbled herself over the side of the capsule and fell heavily to the floor, muffling the cry that escaped her as she connected with the floor. Shakily pushing herself up on her forearms, she looked around the room. There was nothing. No weapons, nothing except the cocoon and that was no help to her now.

Closing her eyes, she wearily pressed her forehead to the floor. "Shusui, if you're here, somewhere, I beg of you." Her voice cracked. "Please help me."

Overhead the lights went out.

She lifted her head, wide-eyed, and the door to her room slid back revealing Itachi. It was dark in the hallway as well. Apparently the lights had gone out all over the ship. Itachi looked down at her impassively.

"Follow me," he said and then disappeared. Grunting with effort, she managed to crawl out of the interface room on her belly, using her forearms and her knees to slide herself a foot at a time. Even that exhausted her. She was panting for breath by the time she cleared the doorway.

Down the hall, Itachi reappeared outside another doorway, looked directly at her, and then disappeared again.

Willing herself to keep moving, she slithered down the hallway with painstaking slowness, glancing behind her every so often with each explosion that said Orochimaru was almost upon her. By the time she reached the door Itachi had been standing by, she was practically sobbing, her arms shaking with exhaustion. She was dizzy and her thoughts were starting to scatter as well, a sign that she should have been resting a long time ago.

Hauling herself up against the wall, she reached a hand over her head to palm the door open. It slid back silently and she half-fell inside, just managing to pull her legs in the rest of the way as the door slid closed again. The lights flicked on for her and she wearily got her first good look at the room she had been lead to.

It was an armory.

She Whispered. "On."

And every mechanized sword, gun, blaster, bow and knife in that room powered on.

* * *

It was easy to follow Orocihmaru's path into the bowels of the ship. He left a trail of destruction as he bombed his way through every locked door. They had picked off eight of Orochimaru's men and had not come across anymore. Either Orochimaru's snakes were getting smarter or Neji and his group were catching up.

"The interface room is close," Sasuke said, his back up against the side of one of the blasted doors. He held his Whispered blaster in both hands, pointed towards the floor. A few feet from him, Sakura made a surprised sound.

"You remember this ship?"

Sasuke looked uncomfortable. "I was here once, when I was very young, before... before."

"Is there another way to the room? One that would get us there before Orochimaru?" Neji asked quickly. Sasuke blinked and then looked down, thinking.

"To the right," he said suddenly, nodding towards a small hallway past Neji's shoulder. "Service corridor. We might make it in time."

Without a word, Neji plunged into the darkness of the corridor, Sasuke and Sakura right behind. The moment the lights had gone out, Neji had known they were running out of time. Everything felt wrong, dead, and he was certain Tenten was no longer linked to the ship. She would be weak after interfacing with such an advanced system. He had to find her before Orochimaru did. He had to.

He kicked down a flimsy door leading to a maintenance room. They hurried through into the hallway where Neji paused, looking left or right. Each way was clear.

"Which way?" he asked, but Sasuke didn't answer. Neji glanced over his shoulder to find the other man looking back at him blankly.

"I..." Sasuke shook his head. "I can't be certain." Sakura reached out and squeezed his arm.

"We could split up," she offered. "Search each way?"

"No," Neji said immediately. "Orochimaru is close. We stay together."

And then he heard it.

A sweet voice singing softly.

**TO BE CONTINUED.**


	6. Interlude

_Notes: This chapter is an interlude, apart from the main story in that it is basically backstory, detailing a part of the time that Neji and Tenten spent imprisoned by Orochimaru. I was going to post this after the final chapter of the main story but I feel the last chapter might mean more if you know the whole story. Still, this chapter is not required to understand the larger story and you can comfortably skip it if you'd rather not be diverted from the main story. Warnings for offscreen character death and depictions of torture. It's not graphic but please use your own judgement concerning possible triggers. This chapter is rated 'M', slightly higher than the others._

**STRAIGHT ON TILL MORNING**  
_INTERLUDE - SECOND STAR TO THE RIGHT_

She woke into semi-darkness, the only light in her room a oil lamp that burned on her work desk. She had no way of knowing how long she slept, or even if it was still daylight outside. Time did not matter in her room. Her _cell_.

For a moment she simply lay there, curled in her blankets, unable to stop herself from listening to the silence. It echoed in her head and in her heart, pressing on her like a physical weight. She had fought against it in the beginning but months had passed and she was growing tired. Orochimaru had piled all sorts of raw materials on her desk along with various tools, just waiting for the day when she would break down and _create_, Whispering life into a machine born of sorrow and loneliness and pain.

She curled inwards, cocooning herself in her blankets. She could not allow herself to fall so low as to make weapons. But even though she kept telling herself that, she knew she was almost there. Soon enough she would break, the silence growing too loud for her to do anything _but_ Whisper.

Outside her locked room came a sound.

She lifted her head, straining to hear, and stumbled off the bed and over to the door when she could not. She pressed her ear against the door and heard footsteps, many footsteps. The guards then. They came and went sometimes, always silent, but this time she heard another sound. A constant drag against the concrete floors. She frowned. The guards were dragging something down the hallway.

"The Master did a number on this one," one of the guards commented quietly. Another grunted in agreement but nothing else was said and they went by her door, still dragging something between them.

A body, she realized painfully. They were dragging a body.

She knew there were other prisoners besides herself. There had been an older man once, boldly and loudly arguing with Orochimaru. She had heard him only the once and never again. She was sure he was dead, but there were others - a younger man, quiet and steadfast, and once a man who had been conversing with Orochimaru as if they could stand each other presence. Something about a curse or a seal or something. She had not been able to hear very well.

And now someone was dead. She pulled herself away from the door sadly, the weight pressing on her heavier than ever. She ignored her desk and crawled back into her bed, sitting herself in the corner against the wall with the blankets wrapped around her shoulders. One day she would join that person and they'd drag her body away as well, but not until she bent to Orochimaru's will. He would not let her die before he got what he wanted.

She leaned her head against the wall and closed her eyes.

The lullaby came to her from far away, so deep in her past she couldn't even remember who had sang it to her. Her parents were misty memories now but somehow the song was still intact and she remembered feeling content, safe. She sang it softly, sadly, and from her heart. She sang it to herself and to the poor soul they'd dragged from Orochimaru's torture chamber. No one deserved to be there, in that place. No one deserved the despair she could feel hovering all around her, just waiting for her to give in. She sang to ward it off

She sang for a long, long time.

And thirty yards away, in a completely separate cell, Hyuuga Neji lay broken on the floor, listening, a tear tracing its way down his bloody cheek.

* * *

The next day she had a panic attack.

The lamp on her desk had run out of oil and she'd been in total darkness and silence for six hours before she _broke_. Something just switched off in her head and she screamed, beating against the door, the desk, herself. She threw whatever she could get her hands on, broke whatever she could. Tears ran down her face and she sobbed even as she screamed in fury, catching a hold of the lamp in the dark, the glass shattering everywhere.

It was the sound of the broken glass that drew them, she knew. They could never allow her to hurt herself. Hearing footsteps outside, she threw herself at the door, beating on it like a madwoman even as the shards of glass on the floor cut her feet.

"Let me out!" she screamed brokenly. "Let me out! I want to go _home_! Please, let me out!"

Outside she could hear Orochimaru barking orders at his men. "Get that door open before she kills herself!"

The door opened and she fell out of the room, her knees hitting the concrete. She looked up blearily to find Orochimaru glaring down at her while two of his lackeys caught her by the arms and hauled her to her feet. Behind Orochimaru, though, there were others. Two guards, she thought, with someone between them. Another prisoner. He had long hair and pale eyes, one of which was swollen and black and barely open a slit. He was bloody and bruised all over and it was obvious that he'd been going into the torture chamber for another round when she'd halted the party with her tantrum. Their gazes met and she felt something pass between them.

Anger welled up once again, no longer fiery but hard as steel and deep as an ocean. She looked to the guard on the right side of the prisoner. He'd been foolish enough to wear a digital watch to work that day. What a shame.

She Whispered and the watch exploded, taking half the man's hand with it.

Everyone moved at once. The guard screamed in pain and dropped to his knees just as the prisoner brought up his elbow and smashed it into the face of the other guard. In the span of five seconds he was completely free, but instead of making a run for it, he barreled towards Orochimaru and the two of them went down in a tangle.

Something smashed into the side of Tenten's head and she fell forward to the ground, completely dazed. She was lying on her stomach, her cheek pressed against the floor and she could blurrily see that more guards had appeared to restrain the prisoner, pulling him off Orochimaru and slamming him into the ground 10 feet away. His head was turned towards her and their eyes met again even as she felt someone pull her hands behind her back and fasten them securely, just as they were doing to the prisoner across the way.

She felt a sharp pinch in her neck and knew that they had given her a sedative. She kept her gaze on the pale-eyed prisoner and managed to mouth _'I'm sorry'_ to him before everything went dark.

* * *

They brought her a new lantern and oil to keep it lit and Orochimaru made sure she knew that they had killed the prisoner she had tried to help escape. _She_ had killed him, he said, because she had tried to interfere. He then had one of his men give her ten lashes with a belt across the back for her disobedience.

Afterwards, she painfully sat down at her desk and began.

Twisted things came forth from her mind, horrible things meant for maiming and killing. And the more things she imagined into being, the more the Snake hurt her until pain was all she could conjure, mentally, physically and spiritually. It poured into her work and she begat strange and terrible weapons whose voices hissed like snakes and whose blades cut her even as she formed them.

And even as she worked, she cried and bled and grieved for the man she had killed. But in the end even he too was swallowed by the blackness growing in her mind, hollowing her from the inside out.

* * *

Eventually she lost herself so deep that she stopped creating and no matter how much they hurt or beat her, she could not be made to rise from her bed. Orochimaru had her carried from the room and placed outside in the courtyard where the sunlight could reach her and then posted guards to watch her before disappearing somewhere.

It took her a long, long time for her to even realize where she was. She sat blankly for hours on a stone bench before she realized that there was grass under her feet and blue sky over her head. And when she did realize that, she wept, great tears rolling down her face without a sound. She cried for herself and for her lost freedom and family, and for all the others Orochimaru had stolen from their lives and brought pain to. She cried because she knew she had made things for him to hurt people with and she cried because she knew she was going to die and it would not be soon enough, not soon enough.

A small voice spoke.

She paused and looked around, wondering if she had finally lost her mind. The courtyard was empty but for her and her two guards. The surrounding buildings were silent.

The small voice spoke again.

Her face went white and her hands clenched in the ornamental robes Orochimaru had had her dressed in that morning. Her hair, so long and unruly now that she had stopped tending to it, brushed her knuckles as stared hard at her lap. Something was _Whispering_ her.

A shiver worked its way up her spine and realized that she was afraid. She had heard no voices in so long except those she brought forth, the dark things from her dreams. The tiny spark of light in her mind was almost terrifying next to that great maw of darkness. In her lap, she shakily cupped her hands together as if to protect it.

She Whispered and heard her own voice creak with disuse. _Where are you?_

The small voice answered in a mix of words and images. _The black_. Space, then. It could not be far, however, or she would not have been able to hear it. Perhaps a ship in orbit around the planet.

_What do you want with me?_ she Whispered. The voice was so tiny, so frail.

_To help you_.

She laughed and even in her head it sounded sad and defeated. _I am lost, little spark. You should find another to Whisper to and leave me._

The answer that came was the human equivalent of someone refusing to budge.

She closed her eyes. _What is your name?_

It came to her as a complicated tangle of symbols and memories. _White Eye That Sees In The Black._

Byakugan.

And when she said the name in her mind, the tiny spark flared bright and grew, pushing the darkness back into the corners, and she understood that it was not the ship's voice that was weak and frail, it was herself.

_Byakugan_, she Whispered, and the spark glowed like a firefly. _Let me speak with your captain._

* * *

The captain, Tenten soon learned, was dead and his second-in-command was on the planet that the _Byakugan_ was now orbiting. He was being held captive somewhere in Orochimaru's compound due to a deal gone bad. She learned all of this from a man named Lee, the ship's mechanic, strangely enough.

She was able to speak to him through the _Byakugan_, the ship transmitting her thoughts as if she were speaking into a comlink. She was able to do so a bit every day as apparently Orochimaru had decided that she needed at least fifteen minutes of fresh air every day or she'd sink back down into depression again and stop making weapons for him. She might have helped this impression along by acting a little more melancholy than she really felt.

The _Byakugan_ had saved her from the abyss. Talking with the ship and with Lee had awakened her mind again and cleared out most of the shadows. Day by day, she became a little more herself again and the weapons she worked on changed subtly in response. They were still clouded by her pain and imprisonment but she was in control now. She could silence their sharp voices if she wished. And she was working on something, something secret, a combination of something born of both despair and hope.

Lee had given her the name of the _Byakugan's_ second-in-command. His name was Neji but that did not help her much, as she rarely saw, let alone spoke, with any other prisoners. And after the incident with the guard whose hand she'd maimed, Orochimaru was very careful not to allow other mechanical things in her presence that she might use against him. He thought her range to be limited to what she could see, and that was true. She could not mobilize anything not in view, not without being directly linked with it, but she could certainly _speak_ with machines a fairly great distance away. The _Byakugan_ being one of them.

For fifteen minutes a day, she was free. When she was locked in her room, things grew dim again but she hung on to herself. It was during one such night, when she lay in bed, mentally bracing herself against the shadows in her mind, that she heard it.

Outside, in the courtyard, a man was humming her lullaby.

It was rough and his voice caught in places, stopping altogether in some moments, but she recognized her song, the one someone had sung to her all those years ago. Rolling to her knees, Tenten pressed herself against the wall, trying to hear. Perhaps it was one of the guards who had heard her that night? She shook her head after a moment though. No, whoever was humming so brokenly had to be a prisoner. The pain she heard in that voice echoed in her own.

Almost without being aware of it, she started to hum along with him, pressed into the very corner of her room. She heard his voice stumble when she joined him and she smiled, knowing he had heard her. They hummed only a few bars before she heard footsteps outside and his voice broke off suddenly. She stopped humming as well, tensing as she realized that Orochimaru was now in the courtyard with the prisoner.

"What was that? Was the girl singing again?"

Tenten curled in tighter to herself. She hadn't known there were guards close enough to hear them. One answered.

"She heard him out here, I think. She was singing to him."

Orochimaru's voice hissed. "Fascinating." There was the sound of shuffling and a grunt. "So, how did you like my little pet's singing, Neji? You're very lucky. Not many have the privilege of listening to a Whispered."

Neji! She covered her mouth with both hands. The _Byakugan_'s second-in-command was just outside! Tomorrow she would be able to tell Lee that she had found him and that he was still alive, something Lee had been unsure of.

Outside, something heavy hit the ground.

"I think it would be...educational for you to stay and listen to a bit more." Orochimaru said, only this time his voice sounded just beyond her door and she turned as it slammed opened and two guards strode in, followed by Orochimaru himself. The Snake wore a hooded expression, his fingers steepled together.

"Seems like you're feeling better this evening, my pet. Perhaps you should sing for _me_ this time."

She cried out as the two guards dragged her from the bed and pushed her up against the wall. One reached up to the collar of her dress and violently ripped it down the back to her waist. Fear made her panic and she struggled and thrashed until one of the guards punched her clean in the face and she dropped instantly, held up only by their hands on her. Outside, she could hear Neji shouting something through what must have been a gag. She couldn't understand him.

Wild-eyed, she did not resist when the guard pushed her up against the wall again. Behind her, Orochimaru picked something up from her desk.

"You're very talented, my pet, but I think it's time we field tested one these, don't you think?" Something dark and coiled slithered to the floor. Her stomach immediately dropped. She knew what the Torturer held in his hand. "Sing for me," his hissed.

The laser whip cut a line from her left shoulder all the way down to the small of her back with the first lash.

"Fifteen lashes, I think, this time," Orochimaru said thoughtfully.

Tenten screamed.

* * *

The next day, they carried her out to the courtyard on a stretcher on Orochimaru's insistence that she get her daily dose of sun. Tenten lay on her stomach on the cold stone bench and reached out for the ship circling overhead.

_Neji's alive. We're out of time._

* * *

That night she did not sleep. Instead, she worked, her fingers bleeding right along with the welts on her back as she painstakingly etched glowing words into a sword's edge.

* * *

The next evening the _Byakugan_ attacked. She heard the explosions as it rocked the far side of the compound, red fire bursting towards the sky. She was locked in her room but Neji was not. She had given specific instructions on when the ship should attack and it had to be a moment when Neji was not confined, as she otherwise did not know where they were keeping him. She had chosen the usual time when Orochimaru had Neji brought to his torture chamber. In the courtyard she could hear the chaos as men ran to and fro, yelling for weapons and for the fire-ships to launch.

Knowing it was time, Tenten hefted the black sword she'd only just finished, the white symbols on the blade shining brightly. This weapon could not be used to hurt her, this one she could Whisper to without fear of darkness.

Lifting the sword level with her shoulder, a move that made her grimace with the way it pulled at her back, she rammed the sword into the outside wall of her room with all her might. No ordinary sword could have sliced through the lead-lined walls her room was made of, but Nightsong could. She Whispered and it obeyed, the hilt vibrating softly with power under her hand. She let go of the hilt and watched as the sword _continued_ to move through the wall on its own, until the entire length of it went through and it clattered to the floor on the other side.

A fight broke out, she could hear the sound of punches being thrown, and then a hand closed around her sword. Reaching out through the blade thin hole in her wall, she knew it was Neji who had grabbed it.

Hope bloomed in her chest and outside she heard men yelling as every light flared to brightness, every machine whirring to life, every computer system powering on to full.

There was more fighting but this time it was the guards who yelled and fought and fell. Nightsong could cut anything. Anything. Nothing could stand in it's path and live. It brought both hope and despair, as she had known it would.

When her door finally burst open, there were tears on her cheeks as she looked upon Neji for the first time and she could not help the happy sound that escaped her. Neji was the man she'd seen outside her door the day she'd lost her mind to the silence. Long hair, pale eyes, and bloody, but not dead. Not dead. Another of Orochimaru's lies.

"I heard your song," he said, his voice hollow and open, somehow soothing despite the state he was in. Nightsong glowed in his right hand. "It saved my life."

She blinked away her tears, still smiling. "As you have saved mine."

Slowly and carefully, he lifted his free hand towards her, palm up, beckoning. "Come with me."

She placed her hand in his and, for the first time in a long time, she was without fear.

"Yes."

**END INTERLUDE.**


	7. A New Start

****_Notes: The end at last! I probably should have just included this in the previous chapter as it isn't very long, but honestly I wasn't sure how it would end until I wrote it. Thanks for hanging in there with me and I hope you feel a sense of completion now that this particular journey is over. On to the next!_

**STRAIGHT ON TILL MORNING**

Sakura watched as Neji stopped before a closed door and gently rested his free hand on it. The singing they had heard was coming from inside - it could be only be Tenten - but he made no move to open the door. He stood there, listening, and as soon as the song came to a natural end, he dropped his hand away. His gaze found her and Sasuke.

"We need Orochimaru to stand here. Right here," he said, and she nodded though she had no idea what was going on. Why couldn't they go inside? It was very possible that Tenten needed medical aid, surely she should have a look-

"Ah, so you _are_ still alive?"

The three of them swung around to face the hiss of a dark voice. Orochimaru stood at the end of the hall, slowly approaching as if time was of no consequence to him. He was alone. Yellow-gold eyes watched them narrowly, a smirk on his ghost-pale face.

"I wasn't sure you know," he continued, holding Neji's steel-hard gaze. "Not many survive a stay at The Sound." His eyes flickered over to Sasuke who stiffened imperceptibly. "And you found my wayward apprentice as well. How fortunate."

"Leave," Neji snapped, the word like a whip-crack. "There is nothing for you here." Orochimaru laughed, a slick, oily sound that made Sakura's skin crawl.

"Don't be naive, Neji," he said, grinning. "I'll have the little Whispered you stole from me, and the boy too."

In answer, Neji lifted the black sword, both hand wrapped around the hilt. The runes on its blade glowed, casting odd shadows in the darkened corridor. Next to him, Sasuke settled back on his feet and bent his knees slightly, ready for combat.

Orochimaru looked at them through lidded eyes. "So be it."

The next thing Sakura knew, the Torturer had someone moved _behind_ them, his movements so fast she hadn't seen him take even a step. She half-turned, a startled gasp barely leaving her lips before she felt a knife sink into her shoulder, the point grinding against the bone. She couldn't even scream it happened so fast, she simply toppled backwards, the med bag she'd had thrown over shoulder hitting the ground as her knees went weak. Someone shouted and then there was the sounds of fighting, of movement.

She felt dizzy and her vision narrowed as she looked up at the ceiling from the flat of her back. Her mind was still in a state of shock, trying sluggishly to comprehend what had just happened. Shaking, she lifted a hand and curled her fingers around the knife hilt rising above her chest. Stifling a groan, she pulled the blade free, the weapon clattering from her fingers as soon as it cleared her skin. She felt warm blood bubble up from the wound and she weakly pressed her palm against it, trying to control her breathing. She could not pass out. She just needed to breathe. The wound was not fatal, she just needed to get the bleeding under control.

The sounds of fighting broke her concentration and she turned her head slightly to get a sideways view of Neji and Sasuke facing off against Orochimaru. Neji was currently engaged in the fight but Sasuke was further behind him, one hand clenched against the side of his neck. He seemed strained, his muscles tense as if he were in some pain. She hadn't seen him get hit. What had happened?

"Sasuke."

Her lips formed the syllables but there wasn't much power in her voice. Somehow he heard her anyway, for his head turned towards her and she felt horror well up within in her. Half of Sasuke's face was a mask of comma-shaped black marks and both of his eyes whirled red. Dread curled in her stomach.

"Sasuke," she tried again, and let her sadness bleed through. What had he done to himself?

Behind him, Neji was suddenly forced back against the wall, keeping two of Orochimaru's long knives at bay with the blade of his own strange sword. Orochimaru broke the stalemate by lifting one blade to slash at Neji's eyes, forcing the captain back and way, off balance. Instead of pursuing him, Orochimaru turned smoothly and charged at Sasuke, who's back was to him.

Sakura's eyes widened in alarm. "Sasuke, look out!" Her call was weak and whispery, but Sasuke pivoted, using his forearm to block Orochimaru's attack. The Torturer barely paused, simply pushed forward, throwing Sasuke to the side, and came straight for her. Her eyes could barely track him until he was standing over her, knife raised to run her through.

"You took him from me once," he hissed smoothly. "This time I'll take you from him." He lunged.

"STOP!"

Perhaps it was because the shout was so surprising, so unlike Sasuke, that Orchimaru obeyed, pausing to look over at his apprentice. Perhaps he simply wanted to draw out the anguish, to get a good view of Sasuke's face as he killed Sakura there on the floor before him, rendering Sasuke helpless again. Whatever Orochimaru's reasons, his pause cost him his life.

Sasuke's red eyes captured and held him, freezing him to the spot. She watched as Orochimaru's muscles locked and his whole body trembled, a sweat breaking out on his forehead. Neither he nor Sasuke said a word, both of them locked in a mental battle the likes of which she was sure she would never know. A few seconds passed and Sasuke shifted slightly, a mere waver of his body and Orochimaru's lips spread into a halting grin. His fingers tightened on the knife in his hand, the one still poised over her.

Down the hall, Neji called out. "Now!"

The door next to Sakura slid open at last but she barely got a glimpse inside before an array of guns and other weaponry fired and she turned her head away, feeling Orochimaru's blood splatter over her. He fell to the ground next to her with a sickening thump and she looked back, her eyes catching on his blank and startled face.

From inside the room, a weak voice called out hesitantly. "Neji?"

The captain hurried up and Sakura watched as he drew Tenten from the room, practically holding her up against him as she seemed very weak. The Whispered's gaze fell on Sakura and her relieved expression turned to worry.

"Sakura."

Before either Tenten or Neji could make a move, however, Sasuke was kneeling down next to her, the black marks receding from his skin as if Sakura were watching the last few minutes in reverse. The red in his eyes stuttered out like a fire quickly banked.

"I'm...alright," she told them. "Just need to...stop the bleeding." She grimaced as Sasuke pressed down hard on her wound with one hand, his other reaching out to her medical bag. She nodded stiffly at Orochimaru. "Is he...?"

"He's dead," Neji said calmly, but she could sense the deep satisfaction in his voice. "He won't be torturing anyone ever again."

She nodded and closed her eyes tiredly. "That's good."

Darkness enveloped her and she went without a fuss.

* * *

She woke in the med-bay aboard the Byakugan, in one of the narrow patient beds, a sterile sheet pulled up over her, bright lights shining down overhead. She blinked and let her vision resolve to show her Neji standing at her bedside, arms crossed over his chest as looked down at her.

"Neji," she said, wincing at the rough sound of her own voice. Neji uncurled enough to reach over for a cup of water that had been sitting by her bedside. He offered her a straw and held the cup while she drank thankfully. "How long have I been...?" she asked when she was done.

"Only a few hours. Lee patched up your shoulder."

Her left arm was in a sling to stabilize the bandaged wound and she was grateful to realize she felt no pain. Lee must have given her something for that as well.

"Is everyone alright?"

"We're alive," Neji replied, though that was perhaps not what she had been asking. She was sure he knew it too. "Tenten is resting. She used up a lot of energy and will need a little more time to recover." His pale searched hers carefully. "And Sasuke is onboard the _Tsukiyomi_. He asked that you be brought there as soon as you're able."

She could feel her shock registered clearly on her face. "The _Tsukiyomi_? Is his brother...?" She had almost forgotten about Itachi in the midst of dealing with Orochimaru. She struggled to push herself up. If Sasuke was meeting Itachi, someone needed to make sure that-

Neji's hand on her uninjured shoulder gently, but surely, pressed her back down. "There's no need for worry. They will not hurt each other. Tenten was able to explain the situation but Sasuke needed to see and talk to Itachi himself."

"What situation?" she asked softly.

Neji's face grew grim. "Itachi is dead. Apparently it is only his spirit that inhabits the ship. Now that he has fulfilled his purpose, I don't think he will linger any longer. Tenten advised Sasuke to go to his brother before it's too late."

Sakura didn't know what to say. Itachi had been dead all these years? Sasuke must feel...directionless, to know after such a long time that the revenge he had lived for was now no longer possible.

"You should rest," Neji said, watching her face. "There is still some time before we can dock properly with the _Tsukiyomi_."

She nodded wearily, a little overcome with all the events of the past day. She closed her eyes and made herself relax, holding on to the belief that when she opened them again, the world would make sense once more.

* * *

Standing on the bridge of the _Tsukiyomi_, Tenten disengaged the ship from the now deserted _Akatsuki_. An escape pod had jettisoned from Orochimaru's ship a half an hour before and she'd made no effort to track it. The pod would most likely land on Whitefall and she was content to let Orochimaru's Snakes stay there. Without their master, they would be able to cause little trouble.

The _Akatsuki_ itself was another matter. No matter who its captain had been, it felt wrong to destroy an entire ship, but Neji was adamant that they shoot it down. He had refused to set foot on it and had forbidden either herself or Lee from doing so as well. Tenten had briefly toyed with the idea of trying to Whisper the ship but in the end thought better of it. She knew very well of how remnants of people got left behind on their ships and she did not want even a wisp of Orochimaru touching her mind.

So it was that she trained the Tsukiyomi's close range guns on the Akatsuki and opened fire.

The ship burst and broke apart, debris flying every which way as the bulk of the ship tumbled end over end in a spin that sent it moving away from them into space. She felt only relief in watching it go. They were really and truly rid of the Torturer.

"Finished?"

Neji's voice broke her out of her thoughts and she turned towards him, nodding. "Just." She tilted her head at him. "Did you bring Sakura?"

"She's with Sasuke now in the captain's cabin. Looks like Itachi left some recordings and logs that Sasuke wanted to look through."

She exhaled and leaned back against the console table. "It's a lot to take in," she admitted. "Will they be alright on their own?" It was one thing for the _Byakugan_ to run with a skeleton crew when one of them was a Whispered but two people alone would not be able to operate the _Tsukiyomi_ efficiently, especially when only Sasuke had flight experience. There was no question, however, that Sasuke would be taking his brother's ship. It was obviously meant for him and Neji had no need of another one.

"Lee is going to pilot the ship into Galatea where they can find a crew. You and I will follow in the _Byakugan_."

She nodded and looped her arms around Neji's neck as he drew closer, his hands falling to her waist. She leaned her forehead against his and closed her eyes.

"It's really over," she breathed.

Neji's voice settled over her like a blanket. "It's over," he agreed.

* * *

They said goodbye on a sun-drenched landing pad in Galatea's space harbor, standing between both the _Byakugan_ and the _Tsukiyomi_. It was a fond farewell but not an emotional one. They were all still too shell-shocked over the events of the past few days and there was more cause to be happy rather than sad, though perhaps that was not true for Sasuke. He seemed quiet and withdrawn, Tenten thought, more than usual, without the hard fire that had so filled him when they'd first met. The wind had spilled out of his sails but she knew, with Sakura there, he would be alright again. The medic looked better, her arm still in a sling, but she wore a smile on her pretty face as Lee tried to hug her without jostling her shoulder.

"Keep in touch," Tenten told the other girl when it came time for her own hug. "If we can help, we'll come."

Sakura smiled. "I will. Thank you for everything you have done for us. With the new crew, Sasuke wants to go back to the Sound, see what's left and then set fire to it, if possible." Tenten could relate to him there. "I'll let you know what we find out."

Tenten nodded. "Thank you. I wish you well, Sakura. I hope..." She flicked her eyes to Sasuke. "I hope everything turns out the way you want."

The medic laughed lightly. "Me too. It may take some time, but..." She smiled prettily. "It's worth it."

And with that the two departed into the _Tsukiyomi_, the sleek, dark ship rising vertically before taking off into the atmosphere with the smoke of a hard burn billowing out behind it. Tenten watched it go, listening to the contented hum of the ship's voice as it faded out of sight.

"I hope they'll be alright," Lee said, one hand shading his eyes as he watched the sky.

"They will be," she reassured him, hooking an arm through his affably. "They both needed a new start."

"Speaking of starts..." Lee said, suddenly grinning down at her. She arched an eyebrow at him.

"Oh no, I thought we agreed _you_ were telling him, not me."

"Tell me what?" Neji asked from behind them, arms crossed over his chest. He was wearing his grumpy captain's face and she felt a laugh, pure and perfect, bubble up inside her and escape. All she needed were these two, together and safe, and everything would be alright.

The grin she directed at Neji matched Lee's.

"How do you feel about a vacation?"

**THE END.**


End file.
